Fire Traps Workers in Delhi Factory, Killing at Least 17

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Women in New Delhi mourning a victim on Sunday of a fire at a factory that left at least 17 dead.CreditCreditAdnan Abidi/Reuters

By Kai Schultz

Jan. 21, 2018

NEW DELHI — A fire at an industrial building on the outskirts of New Delhi broke out as workers were stuffing gunpowder into firecrackers, trapping many of them on the factory’s upper floors as it spread, and leaving at least 17 dead.

The laborers were paid only a few dollars a day to work in harsh conditions, and at least 10 of those who died on Saturday were women, two of whom were reportedly found tightly embracing each other.

Frequent fires are a tragic reality in India’s urban areas: A blaze at two upscale restaurants in Mumbai killed 14 people last month, and factories in the New Delhi area, including ones manufacturing shoes and plastics, catch fire with some regularity.

An official with the Delhi Fire Service said the building that went up in flames over the weekend in Bawana, an industrial area outside New Delhi, had no clear fire-safety arrangements, and the Indian news media reported that the businessman who had rented the factory had been taken into custody.

“I could smell it first,” Roop Singh, 24, a survivors who jumped off the building’s terrace, told the Sunday Express in India. “Before I knew it, I was trapped. I knew that if I had to escape, I would have to jump.”

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An official with the Delhi Fire Service said the building in Bawana, an industrial area outside New Delhi, had no clear fire-safety arrangements.CreditSajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The fire broke out around 6:20 p.m. in Bawana, where factories manufacture and package pharmaceuticals, plastic and rubber items, and petroleum-based products.

To reduce pollution and congestion in the heart of New Delhi, home to around 20 million people, many factories have shifted their operations to industrial clusters like the one in Bawana on the fringes of the city, where they often employ low-wage workers from neighboring states. The number of factories and industrial plots has nearly tripled to more than 50,000 from about 18,000 in 2016.

Atul Garg, the chief fire officer in Delhi, said it was unclear what had caused the fire, but officials said the presence of explosives in the building may have accelerated its spread. Two other fires were reported in factories in Bawana on Saturday, but no casualties were reported there.

“We did not find any fire safety arrangements in the building, but still it’s a matter of police investigation,” Mr. Garg said by telephone of the deadly blaze.

Building and safety inspections are unevenly enforced in Bawana. The police said that Manoj Jain, a businessman who rented the factory at the beginning of the year, had obtained a license to make plastic items, but firefighters found material used to pack fire crackers in the building, he said.

“Anything to do with firecrackers needs fire clearance.”

Mr. Jain, who was taken into custody, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and with negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible materials.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the state of Delhi, said the families of the deceased would receive compensation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter that he was “deeply anguished” by the fire, and that his “thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives.”

Hari Kumar contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: At Least 17 Die in Delhi As a Fire Traps Workers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe